Growing Pains
by cowlicklesschick
Summary: Springboarded off of my other fic, The School Days of Albus Severus. Just snippets of Al's time as a Hogwarts student. Will take requests! All rights to J.K. Rowling.


_**Hello! *waves***_

_**So, quite some time ago I published a little story entitled "The School Days of Albus Severus". Each chapter is basically a letter from Albus to one or both of his parents, with one letter per year. It ended up being kinda cute, if I do say so myself, and I decided to take it a step further and write actual narrative chapters that go along with those letters. They might describe events that happened which Albus refers to in his letters, or they might just be scenarios that I think are fun to contemplate, and that fill in the gaps, so to speak, in between the letters. I guess you could call this a companion piece, but you really don't have to read the other fic for this to make sense. (Although I'd be so very happy if you did anyway).**_

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

/

"Patil, Komal!"

Professor McGonagall had nearly reached his name. Albus chewed his thumbnail worriedly and glanced over at James, sitting with Freddie and Roxie and their fellow Gryffindors. They all clapped enthusiastically as Komal was added to their House. There couldn't be many names left until he was called. He felt sick.

What if he _was_ put in Slytherin?

What would Dad say? Would he be proud? He reflected back on what Dad had told him at King's Cross, on how the Sorting Hat took the wizard's wish into consideration. But what if he, Albus, were to be so very much a Slytherin person that the hat ignored him?

"Potter, Albus!"

He froze; the entire Hall had fallen silent, only to swarm with murmurs and whispers a moment later.

"Albus Potter? Not _Harry Potter's _son?"

He was absolutely certain that his knees were shaking, and not for the first time was devoutly thankful for the long robes to conceal the fact. He approached the Headmistress, each step echoing like a thunderclap on the marble floor; his stomach was knotted with dread as he climbed onto the stool, but he started in surprise when he glanced up and caught what might have been called a smile on McGonagall's mouth.

Then the hat was dropped onto his head, falling well past his eyes and ears, and Albus clenched the edge of the stool with white-knuckled fists.

"Potter, eh?" a voice muttered. "Can't say you lack courage, boy, you've got it to spare. Though you've cunning, too, and ambition. You'd do well in Slytherin, you know. But I suppose you're like your father, so better be – "

He knew an unexpected moment of panic as he realized he was being sorted into Gryffindor.

'_Wait'_, thought Albus. The hat stopped just before shouting its decision to the other students.

What was wrong with him? Hadn't he dreamed of wearing the scarlet and gold? Of playing Seeker like his father?

"What's this? A Potter _wants_ to be in Slytherin?"

'_No, no it's not that'_, he replied. And it was true. He didn't want to be in Slytherin, but…neither did he want to be in Gryffindor, just because his brother wanted him to be.

So what did he want? He thought again of his father's parting words. _"It won't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you…"_

And in that moment, Albus decided it didn't. Not really.

'_I want you to put me in the House where I can do the most good_.'

For a split second the hat said nothing. Albus wondered if he were the first person to ever surprise the thing since Hogwarts was founded, but he didn't have long to dwell on it, because next thing he knew the faded, dirty old hat was bellowing, "SLYTHERIN!"

The hat was lifted off his head, and he caught the gaping looks of astonishment on every member of his family, the rest of the students crowding to get a look at him, and every last staff member sitting at the high table.

Suddenly there was a burst of cheering and thunderous applause from the Slytherin table, but it quickly spread through the entire Hall, and he gingerly hopped off the stool and stole one last glance at James.

He stopped dead in his tracks. His brother was standing on his bench, pumping both fists in the air and cheering louder than he had at the World Cup a few weeks ago. His cousins were acting in a similar fashion, even Rose still waiting with the other students to be sorted. He shot them all a grin, and then hurried off to sit with his new Housemates, awkwardly clambering over the bench and basking in the unbelievable relief. It was over.

"Hullo," a quiet voice said beside him. He turned and saw the Malfoy boy from the station.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," he offered a hand, and Albus eyed him for a moment.

_If a Potter-Weasley can be a Slytherin, then a Malfoy can be a decent chap_, he decided, and returned the handshake cheerfully.

"Albus Potter. Pleased to meet you," he replied.

/

_**I will probably write more about Al's first year. But I loved the idea of him being in Slytherin, because it just shows that an eleven year old understood that it really doesn't matter what colors you wear. Dear Albus. I love him. And Scorpius…oh, do I have plans for him.**_

_**That wasn't supposed to sound perverted. Ah well.**_

_**Anyway. Thank you so very much for reading, and please review! I'll even be taking some requests for this story, but if you could, use TSDAS as a jumping off point, rather than just spouting off ideas for next-gen fics. I'll try to keep these to one-shot-appropriate lengths, but I've so many fantastic ideas bouncing around my head there's no guarantee. **_


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